Squashable cop sleeve



March 8, 1966 1. CINIGLIO 3,239,163

SQUASHABLE COP SLEEVE Filed April 11, 1963 United States Patent 3,239,163 SQUASHABLE COP SLEEVE Ignazio Ciniglio, 40 Haldenstrasse, Lucerne, Switzerland Filed Apr. 11, 1963, Ser. No. 272,265 Claims priority, application Switzerland, May 21, 1962, 6,119/ 62 4 Claims. (Cl. 242118.2)

The present invention relates to a device for preventing the irregular squashing of cop sleeves by the shrinkage of synthetic threads coiled upon them. Such irregular shrinkage has an adverse effect on the quality of the products by further treatment of said threads.

The invention has the object of obviating this disadvantage and of providing a cop sleeve, the squashing of which occurs in a controllable and regular way. It is a further object of the invention to provide a cop sleeve, the end portions of which are prevented from being deformed by the squashing of the main portion of said sleeve.

With these and other objects in view which will become apparent later from this specification and the accompanying drawing, I provide a device for preventing the irregular squashing of cop sleeves by the shrinkage of threads of synthetic material coiled upon them, comprising in combination: a main sleeve portion having weakening lines, unweakened collars provided at the ends of said main portion, and stiffening means operatively connected with said collars preventing deformation thereof during the aforesaid shrinkage.

These and other features of :my said invention will be clearly understood from the following description of a preferred embodiment thereof given by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a usual cop sleeve after use;

FIGURE 2 is a view of a reel forming a preferred embodiment of the device according to the invention;

FIGURE 3 is a longitudinal section of the sleeve carrier belonging to a sleeve according to FIGURE 2 on a large scale;

FIGURE 4 is a view partly in longitudinal section of the reel according to FIGURE 2 with the cop body coiled upon the same after the shrinkage process;

FIGURE 5 is a section along the line V-V of FIG- URE 4 without the cop body, and

FIGURE 6 is a perspective view of a reinforcement ring.

In the production of threads of synthetic material e.g. of nylon thread, the thread is usually coiled upon a cylindrical cardboard sleeve 1 and is then exposed for some time to an elevated temperature of for example about 130 C. whereby a strong shrinkage of the thread is caused of the order of magnitude of for example 20%. When coiling the thread on the sleeve 1 the latter is pushed over a cylindrical sleeve carrier consisting e.g. of wood which is removed prior to the shrinkage process so that the sleeve 1 can give way to a strong pressure which is applied to it by the shrinking cop coiled on it and is squashed. The squashing takes place in a haphazard quite irregular manner for example as shown in FIG- URE 1 by the two main squashing folds 2. When the thread is uncoiled from the squashed sleeve 1 for which purpose the thread as a rule is pulled off upwardly from the vertically positioned stationary sleeve 1 it may happen that the thread slips over the upper edge of the sleeve 1 which protrudes from the coiled cop and whenever it reaches the end of a main fold 2 is slightly held up or braked by the same. The new coil is then not quite uniform Which-as experience has shownatfects the uniformity of a thread produced later from the yarn. Moreover, it may happen that after the uncoiling of the greater part of the cop body the remainder thereof is pulled off the sleeve 1 upwardly. Moreover, in certain circumstances the cop body may slip off the sleeve 1 even during transport.

In order to prevent these disadvantages so called shrinking sleeves have been developed wherein rigid elements distributed over the circumference of the sleeve and supported against one another by compression springs may follow the reduction in diameter of the cop body during the shrinkage process. Such shrinking sleeves can be used all over again but have the disadvantage of being comparatively expensive.

In FIGURE 2 a reel 3 is shown which obviates the disadvantages of the usual cardboard sleeves 1 as usual hitherto although it is squashed likewise upon shrinkage of the thread of synthetic material, and accordingly cannot be used more than once. The reel 3 consists in a cylindrical cardboard sleeve 4 and in a sleeve carrier 5 as illustrated in FIGURE 3 in detail. The sleeve 4 has, for example eight weakening lines 6 running in the longitudinal direction at equal distances from another which are formed, for example, by small grooves extending over the central main portion 4a of the sleeve 4 which forms a seat for the coiled cop body; two collars 7 provided at both ends thereof are, however, free from weak spots. Between any of the collars 7 and the main portion 4a there are provided two annular weakening lines 8 which lie close to one another.

The sleeve carrier 5 preferably includes an axle or spindle 9 and a seal on the ends consisting of two cylindrical supporting rings 16 and 11 which are secured to said spindle, the outer diameters of said supporting rings correspond to the inner diameter of the sleeve 4 and the axial dimension corresponds to the spacing of the collars 7. The supporting ring 10 has a small abutment flange 12 and is connected by means of a perforated disc 13, with a hub 14 which is fixedly connected with the latter by means of an adjustment screw 15 which penetrates into a notch 16 of the axle or spindle 9. The supporting ring 11 has a small abutment flange 17 and, by a perforated funnelshaped portion 18 is connected with a hub 19, which is connected with the axle and is easily detachable therefrom by means of a spring 20. The insert components 10, 12-14, and 11, 17-19, consist preferably of light metal, e.g. of aluminum.

The spring 20 is at one end 21 fixedly connected with the body portion 18 and at its other end provided with a ring 22 through which the axle 9 is inserted. The axle 9 has a plurality of annular grooves 23 lying side by side and the portion of the ring 22 remote from the end 21 engages into one of these annular grooves 23, this ring being mounted resiliently and eccentrically with respect to the axle or spindle. The annular grooves 23 have an asymmetrical profile and the flanks are so inclined that the ring 22 slides resiliently upon the same when the hub 19 is moved inwardly along the axle 9, while on the other hand the hub 19 cannot be pulled off the axle 9 without firstly forcing the spring 22 towards the hub 19 whereby the ring 22 is co-axially aligned with respect to the axle 9.

In order to mount the cop sleeve 4 on the sleeve carrier 5 the latter is pulled off the insert bodies 11, 1922, and the axle 9 with the insert body 10, 1215, is inserted into the sleeve 4, until the flange 12 abuts the same; thereafter the inserted body 11, 19-22, is pushed upon the axle 9 until the flange 17 abuts the sleeve 4 and its position is secured by the engagement of its ring 22 into one of the annular grooves 23. Then the thread of synthetic material is coiled upon the sleeve 4, the ends of the axle 9 being journalled rotatably and the cop 3 being set in rotation in the usual manner by friction with a driving roller of approximately equal length. Care is taken that the coiled cop body 24 (FIGURE 4) clears the two collars 7. In the subsequent heat treatment the main portion 4a of the sleeve 4 is regularly squashed, little folds 6 forming on all weakening lines 6 as shown in FIGURE 5, which folds 6 obviously need not be accurately identical with one another. The collars 7 supported by the cylindrical supporting rings and 11 remain as smooth as before while the small annular zones between the annular weakening lines 8 are conically deformed, as shown at 25 in FIGURE 4.

After taking the sleeve carrier 5 out of the deformed sleeve 3' the latter which carries the shrunken coiled cop 24 may be supplied to further treatment, e.g. may be despatched. The undeformed collars 7 prevent any slipping of the coiled cop 24 and secure a perfectly homogeneous uncoiling of the latter.

Although the coil 3 described hereinabove constitutes the simplest device for obviating the disadvantages explained hereinabove with reference to FIGURE 1 numerous modifications are possible in order to attain the result desired. For example the sleeve 4 provided with the weakening lines 6 and 8 may be pushed upon the usual cylindrical sleeve carrier for the formation of the coiled cop 24, care being taken that the collars 7 are cleared when coiling up. Before the heat treatment for which the cylindrical sleeve carrier has to be taken out of the sleeve 4, two holder rings 26 of U-profile (FIG- URE 6) may then be clamped on the collars 7 which holder rings 26 may be left on the sleeve 4 or may be taken off the same after the shrinkage. The use of the device 4, 26 causes slightly more work than that of the device 4, 5, but allows to continue the use of existing cylindrical sleeve carriers, if any, and to dispense with the provision of the sleeve carriers 5.

Even other convenient means are conceivable in order to prevent the deformation of the unweakened collars 7 during the shrinkage process. Since the latter takes place in a heated chamber (furnace) wherein numerous sleeves with their coiled up cops are to be accommodated, vertical rods are provided in the furnace which rods are of considerably smaller diameter than the sleeves and on which several sleeves are to be pushed. These rods which are fixedly arranged in the furnace and may be compared with the axles 9 may be provided at distances corresponding to the length of the sleeves 4 with supporting discs or rings which carry out the function of the supporting rings 10 and 11.

However, the sleeve 3 should in general be by far preferable to the embodiment described last, in as much as the sleeves 3 can be held in the furnace in a very simple manner. It suffices to arrange in the latter a horizontal holder plate in which holes are provided at distances corresponding to the diameter of the cop bodies; in each of these holes one of the ends of an axle 9 protruding beyond the insert bodies is to be pushed. As shown in FIGURE 3 that end of the axle 9 which in this figure is the upper end is provided with a converging portion 27, which facilitates such a pushing in.

Obviously other modifications of the device described are possible; in particular the weak spots of the main portion 4a of the sleeve 4 need not necessarily have the form of lines parallel to the axis. Moreover, for the sleeve 4 another material than cardboard may be used although cardboard at present is the most favourable material from the economical point of view. Finally, the collars 7 may be reinforced already during the production of the sleeve 4, for example by permanent connection with inserted reinforcement rings.

While I have herein described what may be considered a typical and particularly useful embodiment of my said invention, I wish it to be understood, that I do not limit my invention to the particular details and dimensions described and illustrated; for obvious modifications will occur to a person skilled in the art.

What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A device for preventing irregular collapsing of cardboard spool sleeves during the shrinkage of synthetic threads wound thereon, comprising a spindle, insert bodies mounted on said spindle in spaced relation, a supporting ring on each of said insert bodies, means detachably connecting one of said insert bodies and supporting rings on said spindle, a cardboard sleeve upon which the synthetic threads are adapted to be wound mounted with its ends supported by said insert bodies and supporting rings, said sleeve being provided with a series of axially extending parallel wall weakening grooves terminating in spaced relation from the ends of said sleeve to provide unweakened collar portions adapted to be received on said insert bodies and supporting rings and fastener means securing the other of said insert bodies and supporting rings in position, whereby one of said insert bodies and rings can be easily removed after the cop is wound on said cardboard sleeve for further treatment.

2. A device according to claim 1 in which said means detachably connecting said one body and ring to said spindle includes a series of axially spaced annular grooves having an unsymmetrical shape of ratchet-like configuration provided on said spindle adjacent the end supporting said detachable insert, and a spring on said one detachableinsert having a looped end portion provided with an aperture which corresponds to the diameter of the spindle and being adapted to receive the same when said insert is positioned on said spindle, whereby during the slidable attachment of the insert body on said spindle said looped portion will yieldingly slide over the flanks of said annular grooves and form a detent to lock said insert body in position while lateral pressure on said looped portion Will unseat the same from said grooves and permit said insert body to be removed from said spindle, after the cop Winding has been formed on said cardboard sleeve.

3. In a device for preventing the irregular collapsing of cop sleeves by the shrinkage of threads of synthetic material wound thereon, in combination: a sleeve holder including a spindle, a pair of insert bodies mounted on said spindle, supporting rings on each of said insert bodies, a spring affixed to one of said insert bodies, an annular portion on the end of said spring bent in alignment with the axis of said insert body and having an opening the inner diameter of which slightly exceeds the diameter of said spindle, a series of circular grooves of asymmetrical profile arranged in spaced relation on said spindle, said annular portion being adapted to engage said grooves when under radial bias by said spring and being adapted to slide over the end of said spindle on the corresponding flanks of said grooves due to the yielding resilient action of said spring, said spring being adapted to be held in a position so as to center said annular portion with respect to said insert body when said insert :body is removed from said spindle, and a cardboard sleeve adapted to be supported by the ring portions of said insert bodies and having a series of longitudinally extending circumferentially spaced weakening grooves terminating a short distance from the ends of said sleeve to provide reinforced end collar portions which will not be deformed during shrinkage of said main sleeve portion.

4. In a device as set forth in claim 3 in which said cardboard sleeve is provided with spaced annular peripheral weakening grooves adjacent the point of termination of said series of longitudinally extending weakening grooves.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,232,542 2/1941 Lewis 2421 1811 X 2,659,543 11/1953 Guyer 242-685 2,982,493 5/1961 Sibille 242-118.2 3,045,944 7/ 1962 Ciniglio 242-118.2

FOREIGN PATENTS 655,071 12/1928 France. 1,189,330 3/1959 France.

MERVIN STEIN, Primary Examiner.

G. F. MAUTZ, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A DEVICE FOR PREVENTING IRREGULAR COLLAPSING OF CARDBOARD SPOOL SLEEVES DURING THE SHRINKABLE OF SYNTHETIC THREADS WOUND THEREON, COMPRISING A SPINDLE, INSERT BODIES MOUNTED ON SAID SPINDLE IN SPACED RELATION, A SUPPORTING RING ON EACH OF SAID INSERT BODIES, MEANS DETACHABLY CONNECTING ONE OF SAID INSERT BODIES AND SUPPORTING RINGS ON SAID SPINDLE, A CARDBOARD SLEEVE UPON WHICH THE SYNTHETIC THREADS ARE ADAPTED TO BE WOUND MOUNTED WITH ITS ENDS SUPPORTED BY SAID INSERT BODIES AND SUPPORTING RINGS, SAID SLEEVE BEING PROVIDED WITH A SERIES OF AXIALLY EXTENDING PARALLEL WALL WEAKENING GROOVES TERMINATING IN SPACED RELATION FROM THE ENDS OF SAID SLEEVE TO PROVIDE UNWEAKENED COLLAR PORTIONS ADAPTED TO BE RECEIVED ON SAID INSERT BODIES AND SUPPORTING RINGS AND FASTENER MEANS SECURING THE OTHER OF SAID INSERT BODIES AND SUPPORTING RINGS IN POSITION, WHEREBY ONE OF SAID INSERT BODIES AND RINGS CAN BE EASILY REMOVED AFTER THE COP IS WOUND ON SAID CARDBOARD SLEEVE FOR FURTHER TREATMENT. 